July 2016 Archives

The Fourth Circuit overturned North Carolina's voter identification law this
morning -- and it didn't pull any punches in doing so. In a blistering,
strongly-worded opinion, the court found that the North Carolina legislature
enacted the voter ID requirement and ended same-day voter registration and
preregistration "with discriminatory intent."

It apparently didn't take the
Fourth Circuit too long to reach these conclusions, either. The ruling comes
just three months after a federal district court upheld the voting law and
little over a month following oral arguments.

In a decision that probably won't surprise many, the Fourth Circuit found that an employer-insurer was under no duty to indemnify a gunshot wound to a third party after the employee "play[ed] around" with his gun. The decision is important because it gives a little bit more clarity to both employers and employees as to what actions are covered under the "work related" language of insurance policies.

By hook or by crook, transgender student Gavin Grimm will get to use the bathroom of his choice, no matter how particular locals may feel about it. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Gloucester County School Board's request to stay a federal ruling in Grimm's favor, on Tuesday.

It looks like Grimm will finally be allowed in, despite the efforts of some. That is, unless the Supreme Court steps in.

The wrongful termination suit by an Arab-American Muslim woman of Moroccan descent was largely reversed by the Fourth Circuit recently, meaning that a jury will hear the discrimination allegations she brought against her former employer.

It was a whopper of an opinion that discussed the limitations that lower federal courts ought to observe concerning summary adjudication.

Things got a little better for parties seeking to recover attorney's fees in the Fourth Circuit this week. On Tuesday, the Fourth ruled that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(d), which seeks to deter forum shopping and "vexatious" lawsuits, allows courts to award attorney's fees, but with limits.

Some courts have fully rejected the idea that Rule 41(d) entitles parties to recover attorney's fees, while others have awarded them almost as a matter of right. The Fourth Circuit's decision places it firmly between these two extremes, allowing recovery of fees only where the underlying statute defines costs to include attorney's fees, or where plaintiffs had acted in bad faith and vexatiously.

About U.S. Fourth Circuit

U.S. Fourth Circuit features news and information from the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which hears appeals from U.S. District Courts in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland. This blog also features news that would be of interest to legal professionals practicing in the 4th Circuit. Have a comment or tip? Write to us.